Ke Alahou, Volume I, Number 10, 1 December 1980 — Ka Hana Kapa [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ka Hana Kapa

Hau'oli makou e ho'okomo i teia palapala mo'olelo no ka hana kapa maloko o ka kakou nupepa pumehana me ka Tini e ho'oulu i ka hana kapa ma Hawai'i nei. I ko makou mana'o, eia ka ho'opuka mua loa o kekahi palapala mo'olelo e pili me ka hana kapa ma keia manawa. Ua kakau 'ia e Carla Freitas, kekahi o na po'e hana ma ka Nalional Parks Service i ka Pu'uhonua o HonaunaU ma ka mokupuni 'o Hawai'i. 'Oia ka mea o na po'e kupa e makemake e a'o a e hana i ke kapa kahiko, a he wahine noeaii i ka liana kapa. E ho'omana'olana makou mailoko o ka pa'i 'ia 'o keia palapalā mō'olelo a i ka laha 'ana a ka hana a kekahi po'e e like me Dennis Kanae Keawe no Hilo, Malia Solomon no Honolulu nei ame Carla, e ho'omau ka hana noeau a i kaloa'a ke kapa maika'i o Polinesia apau. E ha'awi āku i kā mahalo no Carla Freitas, ia Jerry Y. Shimoda, ka luna o ka National Parks Service ma Honaunau, ame ke Ke'ena National Parks Service no ka iakou mau kokua ame kakp'o i ka pa'i 'ia a keia palapala mo'olelo.

Ma ke kinohi, kanu lawe 'ia mai na 'ano'ano e ka manu, ke au kai āme ka makani ia Hawai'inei. Ekala loa ka ho'ea mai o na nōanona ame na la'au e a'e a I ho'onoho ma'ane'i, ua 'olelo 'ia mai, he ho'okahi'ano lahui n6 20,000 a 30,000 mau makahiki iho'onoho ai. Aia i ka hopena he 1,700 la'aupua mohala nona 'ano lahui, he 83 wale no e ho'ulu a loli i ka hala o ka manawa, nokamea 'a'ohe me#'enemi. Alaila, lolina la'au kahiko i mau kāukani la'au o'ko'a a mea* hou a uluwehi mauka la i ka waonahele a namauahi i kai. Malia, ho'ea ke kanaka maloko o na wā'a kaulua e holomoana mai no ka'āina kahiki, he 'elua kaukani mile paha i ka'awale aku la. Ha'alele lakou iko lakou 'ainahanau i ka M.H. 1,000 paha a i lawe 'ia mai i ko lakou 'ano nohona, hana noeau, 'oihana ho'omana ame na holoholona ame la'au pono'i. Ua lawe 'ia mai he 'umikumalua la'au malihini i 'ope 'ia maloko o na wa'a a aia mawaena o na la'au, 'oia ka wauke. Pa'ahana a luhi ke kanaka mahi'ai i ka wauke. Ua 'ohi mua i na lau kipulu a waiho iho la ma na wahi mahi'ai, he wahi e kokoke pili me kona hal| paha, na kahawai, ke kula, ka nāhele, a i 'ole na wahi pohaku. Alaila, noho 'oia i ke kau ua e ho'omaka paha ma ka mahina 'o February a i 'ole March. Kanu 'ia na lala kanu a ē waele iho la i na wahi apau a e 'ako ana.i ka 'opu'u o ka wauke, no kana mamake i ka la'aupololei a e hana kapa me ka 'ili puka 'ole. Ehiki ke kanu ma na wahi malo*o, ina e kahe ka wai a loa'a ka ua, a e ho'omalu. Māhope o ka hala he 'umikumalua a 'umikumawalu mahina (a i 'ole 'elua makahiki) a e moku i ke kumu la'au. Mahope iho e kupu a'e la na kawowo a i ka wa kahiko, ua kanu wale no i ka wauke no ka hana kapa. " Ua kuku 'ia ka 'ili o ka wauk?a loa'a ke kapa. Malia, ua kapā 'ia he "bark elolh" no keia kuku i ka

We*=are. happy to include this short serial in Ke Alahou in hopes of prompting a renewed interest in the art of tapa making. We are proud to be able to print pe?haps the first written, contemporary account of making tapa in Hawaii. The writer, Carla Freitas, is one of the staff members of Pu'uhona o Honaunau [City of Refuge), Naūonal Parks Service onthe islaud of Hawaii. She is one of a few people who have been experimenting and re-learning theold ways of Hawaiian textile making and has conducted and participated in workshops on paper and tapa making. With others, like Dennis Kanae Keawe of Hilo and Malia Solomon of Honolulu, we hope that one day tapa making will become a cottage industry producing the finest tapa in all of Polynesia. Our thanks to Carla Freitas, Superintendent Jerry Y. Shimoda and the National Parks Service for their help and support.

'ili. Huli 'imi a loa'a kapa ma China, maloko o ke o na ali'i o Egypt, ma Africa ame na 'aina ma ka piko o Wakea (kapo'ai waena o ka honua), 'oia ka 'aina wela ka la. A ua hana kapa na po'e kahiko mamua o ka hanau 'ia 'o lesu Kristo a ua lawe 'ia mai mai ka hikina mai, mai ka 'aina 'o Asia ame na mokupuni o Polinesia hema. A maloko o Polinesi apau, keu ka hana kapa i ka maika'i loa, aka 'oi aku ka hana noeau i kapalapala, kaha ki'i, waiholu'u me na mau 'ano kapa ma Hawai'i nei.

Ia the beginning seeds brought by birds, sea currents and the wind foundtheirway to the Hawaiian islands. Plants and insects also arrived slowly and became estahlished at the rate of one family every 20,000 to 30j000 years. 1,700 species of flowering plants, belonging to 83 families, onee established were able to increase and evolve because there were fewplant and insect enemies here. About2so ancestral plant species gave rise to thousands of endemic species. The islands teemed with rich vegetation in the upper mouniain slopes whieh became sparse as one descended to the s.ea coast. In double-hulled canoes with sails of plaited lauhala (pandanus odoratissimusJ, man braved the unknown and ventured over 2,000 miles to these. In quest of a new life, they departed their

homelands in the south c. IQQQ , wlth thetn their beliefs, traditions, religion, and animals. The animals and plants were to provide their future witli secure things they were familiar with. Two dozen plan|s were tenderly place*d in sto w for the long journey and watered sparingly. Among these plants was wauke (broussonetia papyrifera) or Chinese paper mulben:y. The wauke farmer of long ago was very industrious. He gathered as mueh muleh material as he cpuld and mulched the areas he decided to raise his plants in. It could have been near his house, along streams, in open coastal plains, forests, or rocky areas. He patiently waited for the rainy season whieh. may have begun in February or March, then he planted his slips of wauke. As the plants grew, the farmer tended them diligently weeding every week and plucking off branch buds that formed. He did.this to eliminate or minimize any holes inlhe bark as the plant matured and was needed-. Wauke could be planted in dry locations if watered well from the wind. After 12-18 months'*{or even two years), wauke was qut close to the ground letting the new $fcoots sprout from the roots left in the ground, Only wauke was cultivated to make tapa (kapa). Tapa is a non-wovenfabric made from the beaten inner bark of certain plants, It is also called "bark clothyjecause it is made of tree bark. Discoveries of tapa have been found in China (6th century),Egyptian tombs, in Africa apd in other areas close to the ēquatorial belt. Maki#g tapa for clothing or writing paper ean be traced to before the birth of Christ, Wauke and the knowledge of making tapa was brought over from the east, from Asia to the southern Polynesian islands, over a loog period of time, In these parts tapa has reached its finest development, but Hawaiian tapa has surpassed all other areas fo,r its yariety, color, design, texture* and techniques in preparation and decoratiQn. ('A'oie i pau)